Between Smoke and Fire
by Lukan T. Owens
Summary: Meet Lon Castor. He's psychologist who used to work for the marines as shrink and a profiler before he quit because of a certain incident that happened in the past. Now he's part of a group of bounty hunters. Something that many...full summery inside.


I don't own One Piece or any of its characters. The only thing that I own is the plot, Lon and any other OCs I think up.

**Plot:** Meet Lon Castor. He's psychologist who used to work for the marines as shrink and a profiler before he quit because of a certain incident that happened in the past. Now he's part of a group of bounty hunters. Something that many would find odd considering his kind and caring personality. Not like that would stop him from capturing bad guys and enforcing some justice. Though his profession might be in jeopardy when he somehow manages to capture the interest of Fire Fist Ace.

And that is how the game of cat and mouse starts. How long will Lon last with his nice and kindhearted personality? Probably not long, that is unless his good old friend Smoker the White Hunter has anything to say about it. The marine is more then ready to go on the offensive to protect him from any kind of harm, but are Smoker's action just fueled by the ties of friendship? What if Smoker's feeling are much more deeper then that? Either way Lon ends-up stuck between a rock and a hard place or to be more precise, stuck between smoke and fire.

**Chapter 1**

The sounds of the ocean and people of the town blended perfectly together, not to mention that was bright and clear with barely a cloud in sight. It made a smile form on Ace's face. The logia devil fruit user couldn't have asked for a better day. Who know such a small island like Ulaka had great atmosphere, and was pretty popular too. Even if a good portion of it was made out of docks. Then again it was probably why it was popular in the first place. It was an oddity that one never got to see often. Not to mention that it was nice and peaceful.

"Come back here you goddamn brat!" Well, there went the peace.

Ace turned to the direction the shout came from. It seemed that someone was being chased. He didn't have long to speculate who was being chased because the answer came running at him. It was a young boy no older then ten who was carrying what looked like food, and he was really in a hurry.

"Move it old man." The kid yelled at Ace as he rushed by the logia devil fruit user. "What the hell do you mean old man." Ace growled annoyed at the boys retreating back. That was such a bad move on his part. Seconds later the man that was chasing the kid ran into him. "Out of my way punk!" The man hollered at Ace as he viciously shoved the teen out of the way, right off of the boardwalk and into the sea.

********Page Break********

Lon smiled warmly at the people he passed. He was in a very good mood today, not to say that he was never in a good mood. He was a very pleasant and cheery person by nature, but even more so right now. It wasn't every day that tracking down and capturing a bounty went so well.

The pirate that they were chasing after let his own pride and arrogance lead to his down fall. They apprehended him with little to no trouble, which left them with plenty of time on their hands. So they all could relax and explore the island that they were docked at, a nice little island called Ulaka. It was quite little vacation place and none of them would pass up such a fine chance to unwind. Which was why Lon was walking about the town of the island, checking out the sights. He and others had decided to split up and do their own thing before they met up again later.

Speaking about checking out the sights, there seemed to be a bit of a crowd gathering at the boardwalk. Was there an event going on near there? The only way to find out would be to go check it out himself.

It didn't take him long to get to the boardwalk. He carefully made his way through the small crowd till he could see the ocean, but he didn't see anything other then the water and the clear sky. If there was nothing here then would something be coming? He took a closer look and saw that just about everyone was looking down into the water. Perhaps something would come up out of the sea?

"Excuse me, but why are peopled gathered here?" He politely asked a person that was next to him. "Well...someone got knocked into the water and has yet to come up." The person answered a bit hesitantly. "Wait? What!" Lon sputtered in shock. It took him a moment before he quickly reined in his senses. "You mean to tell me that no one has tried to go get them yet?" He questioned in disbelief. "Well...no...not really." The person replied awkwardly. That was all it took for Lon to go diving into the water.

He looked all over as he kept going deeper. Honestly, why didn't anyone go after the person that fell in? It should be obvious that when no one comes back up from being pushed in the water that something was wrong. Did these people have no sympathy for drowning victims?

Speaking of 'drowning victims', he could finally see the person that had knocking into the sea. He looked be young man in his late teens with slightly wavy black hair and a dusting of freckles over his cheeks, and he seemed to be unconscious. He must not know how to swim or somehow he hit his head on the way down.

Lon swam over to teen as fast as he could and quickly headed to surface once he had said teen in his grasp. It wasn't long till they broke the surface. Lon rushed over to the boardwalk and carefully brought the teen up onto the wooden surface. He checked to see if the teen was breathing and panicked when found out that the younger man's chest did not rise, nor expel any air. Not to mention, it didn't help that people were gathering around them. He had to work fast.

"Everyone back off and give us some room and someone go get a doctor while I perform CPR, he's not breathing." Lon ordered. Everybody quickly stepped away form and a few went of to go look for a doctor. Yet he paid then no mind. As soon as they were given some space Lon tilted the teen's head up and started to give mouth to mouth. He rotated between forcing air into the teen's lungs and pushing on the teen's chest. It took Lon a few tries before the teen began coughing up sea water. He gently turned the teen to his side so that none of the water he coughed up wouldn't come back down and make it a bit easier for the teen to cough up the water.

********Page Break********

When Ace fell into the water he knew that he screwed. He couldn't swim at all because of his devil fruit powers. Even worse, devil fruit users tended to sink when in the ocean instead of float like a normal person does.

He couldn't go out like this! If he was going to die then he would have at least like to die a worrier's death. Drowning was not his ideal way to die, not at all. So he fought with all his might, but it, obviously, didn't do him any good. That is unless you count the fact that it greatly slowed his descent. So much for flailing about like an idiot.

More importantly, why didn't anyone come in after him? Were they all too stupid enough to figure out that after so long of not making it back to the surface that something might be wrong? Apparently so, and that had to be shitest kind of luck. Hell, his hope was starting fade along with his vision. He wondered if crew-mates would miss him. Though before mind could dwell on such depressing thoughts for long he was distracted when he saw something coming toward him.

Was it a sea monster? If it was then this would really be the shitest luck ever. Yet he was proven wrong as the figure got closer, it was a person. _'About damn time.'_ He thought annoyed just before he completely blacked out.

It was a moment later when he came too, coughing up see water. He could feel someone gently turn him to his side, something that was thankful for. It made a little easier to dispel the water from his lungs. Once done he was placed back onto his back where he greedily sucked in air. He was so glad to be able to breath again. Now if only the small burning sensation in his lungs would disappear.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Ace blearily looked up confused. Why was the moon out? Last he remembered was that it was mid noon, and it still looked early, at lest too early for the moon to be out. Not to mention, there were two moons.

He rubbed at his eyes and looked back up. It wasn't two moons that he was seeing, it was a pair of eyes, eyes the same pale and bright blue as moonlight. It was one the most captivating things he ever saw.

"Are you alright?"

He blinked up at his rescuer, giving the other male his full attention when the question was asked again. He studied the other, taking his rescuer's features. The other male looked a few years older than him with a bit of heart shaped face and with slightly light brown hair was slicked back because of being in the water, which, or course, showed off his stunning eyes. And lets not forget the wet cloths that stuck to him like a second skin, showing that he had a nice muscular figure.

And he looked very concerned and worried.

That's right, his rescuer had asked him something. What was it again? Oh right, he was asked about his wellbeing.

"My body aches all over and feel kind of weak, but other than that I'm okay." Ace replied with a tired smile.

His rescuer relaxed at those and gave him warm smile. "Really, I'm so glad. I didn't know how long you were in the water, so I was worried that you might have suffered some brain damage or something." He said relieved, happy that the teen was alright.

Ace was a little stunned at his rescuer's words. The older male sounded generally concerned for his wellbeing and treated him like an old friend, someone he knew for years. People usually weren't so kind and warm to total strangers. It made Ace feel all nice and warm inside, and it kind of made his heart skip a beat too, not like he would admit it or anything.

********Page Break********

Lon was so relieved that the teen was fine and well. He was a bit scared for a moment there when the teen just stared at him for awhile. He was worried that the younger male had suffered some brain damage or something from lack of oxygen.

Though not a moment later the hushed silence around them was disturbed by someone shouting.

"Out of my way, out of my way. Doctor coming through. I was told that there was a drowning victim, where is he?"

Oh good, the doctor was here.

"Doctor, sir, he's over here." Lon shouted as he waved his hand in the air. "Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming." The doctor shouted back as he pushed his way through. A moment later he emerged. The doctor was an older man, somewhere in his 50s. He had short black hair that was peppered with gray and slicked back, sharp green eyes, and he was wearing the usual cloths a doctor would wear.

"How is he?" The doctor asked as he kneeled down next to the teen. "I'm fine doc, There's no need for you to worry." The teen said cheerfully, trying to brush the older man off. "I'll be the judge of that." The doctor shot back not at all amused. He gave the teen a stern glare before he opened his medical bag.

"I presume that you are the one that saved this young man?" He prompted to the moon eyed man as he searched around in his bag. "Yes I am, I resuscitated him sir." Lon replied politely. "Though I'm a little worried that he might have suffered some brain damage or head trauma because it took awhile for him to respond to me." He added concerned. Just because the teen seemed alright didn't mean that he was completely okay. He could have missed something, he wasn't a doctor.

"Hey! I said that I was fine." The teen said bit exasperated. He tried to get up, but both Lon and the doctor stopped him. "And I said that I would be the judge of that." The doctor said annoyed as he narrowed his eyes at the teen. "Now stay still." He order, his voice left no room for argument. The teen glared at him and went to open his mouth to shoot back a retort, but Lon cut him off. "Just relax and listen to the doctor, and let him look you over. Just because you think you're fine doesn't mean that you are. It's better to be safe than sorry." The moon eyed man's tone was soft.

The teen wanted to argue, but the concerned and pleading look Lon was giving him made it hard for him to do so. The moon eyed man had been nothing but kind and caring to him. How could the teen be mean to someone who was so nice?

"Alright, fine." The teen said in a huff.

"Thank you so much." Lon said happily with a smile, glad that the teen would let the doctor help him. The teen slightly blushed at his words and quickly looked away from him. The moon eyed man was too damn nice for his own good. There was definitely no way he, or anyone else, could mean to such a person.

"I should be the one who should thankful. I don't have to worry about my patient trying to run off on me again." The doctor cut in. The teen glared at him, but paid him no heed. "I want your eyes to follow the light." He instructed as he shined a pen light at the teen's face. The teen rolled his eyes at the doctor, did as he was ordered.

"Good, there doesn't appear to be any signs of brain damage or a concussion." The doctor said a bit relieved as he turn the light off and put it away. The teen's eye were easily able toe follow the light. The older man then checked the teen's pulse, it was good and steady.

"Well I'm happy to say that you're just fine." He told the teen. That was something that was good to hear. The teen was alright after all.

"Does this mean I can get up now?" The teen asked politely yet he sounded a little annoyed. "Sure, but I would like for you tow to come with me." The doctor said simply as he packed his bag up. "May I ask why sir?" Lon asked politely curious. "Same here." The teen added in. He was perfectly fine, so why did he and his rescuer have to follow after the doctor?

"Well, I'm not going to let you two walk around in wet cloths, even if today is a nice day." The doctor answered. "That's very kind of you, but I wouldn't want to impose." Lon declined politely. "Nonsense! It would be no trouble at all, now come on." The doctor replied cheerfully. The bounty hunter still wasn't sure. He didn't want to cause the doctor any trouble, but the teen had no problem doing so. "Well thanks old timer, that's real kind of you." The teen said happily. He went to stand up, but slightly stumbled as he did so. Though luckily Lon caught him.

"Easy there, don't try to push yourself to hard." The older male said concerned. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." The teen said with a tired smile. "But I think that I can walk on my own." He added. Lon was a bit hesitant at first, but he let the teen go.

"Do you think that you can walk well on your own kid?" The doctor asked a little concerned. "Yeah, I may feel a little weak, but I can still walk." The teen reassured. "Alright, then follow me you two. My home isn't far from here." The doctor replied before he started to two younger males quickly followed after him.

********Page Break********

It didn't take them long to reach the doctor's home. It was simple house that had two floors and was a pleasant blue color. It gave off a friendly aura.

It kind of made Ace a little bit jealous. He never had a house like that when he was growing up, then again he didn't have that great of a childhood. _'There's no use thinking about the past.'_ He chastised himself as he shook the thought from his mind.

"Just make yourselves at home." The doctor offered as he opened the door. "Thanks old timer." He said cheerfully. "Yes, thank you very much." The moon eyed man added in politely, his tone warm. "Don't mention it." The doctor brushed off. He entered his home and left the door open for the two young men. Said young men soon followed after. The older of the two shut the door after they entered.

"Sweetheart, you're back. Is that drowning victim you went to check on alright?" An older woman questioned both a little surprised and worried. She looked to be somewhere in her 50s, but time had been good to her. She had slightly wavy pale blond hair and dark blue eyes. She also wore a lovely purple sundress.

"Why don't you ask him yourself." The doctor prompted as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the two young men. The woman gave him a confused look before she curiously looked past him. Her eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline at the sight of the two young men. "I thought that there was only one drowning victim?" She asked confused, there was some concern in her voice. "There was only one drowning victim. The tall one is the one who saved that dark haired young man, the drowning victim." The doctor answered.

"Really, that's wonderful." The woman gushed. She rushed over to the two of them. "Oh you poor dear. It must have been scary for you, sinking down into the sea." She cooed at Ace sympathetically. Though before Ace could say anything she quickly turned her attention to his rescuer. "And you, you're such a brave young man. How wonderful of you to save him." She praised impressed.

"It's nothing really, I just did what anyone else would do." The moon eyed man said quickly. He felt very bashful at such praise. "Why aren't you humble! Such a wonderful young man, one day you'll make some girl very lucky. And your eyes, they're so interesting, so captivating." The woman cooed, laying compliment upon compliment on him. The moon eyed man blushed and stuttered at all the attention.

Ace had to stop himself from laughing, but he couldn't hold back the bemused grin that had spread across his face. It was all so amusing, and his rescuer's actions were just so cute. It seemed like he was the shy type.

"Stella, leave the poor boy alone." The doctor said in a huff, but there was no bite to his tone. "Aww, but they're both sooo handsome." The woman, Stella, whined with a pout on her face. The doctor gave her a bland unimpressed look. "Oh don't be like that! You know you're my one true love." Stella said cheerfully as she happily skipped over to the doctor. She placed a kissed on his cheek when she reached him. He rolled his eyes at her exasperated, but there was a smile tugging at his lips.

"I love you too dear, but perhaps you could help those two young men with their cloths?" The doctor prompted, directing Stella's attention back to the other two males in the room. Stella was bit confused for moment, that is before she remember that Ace and his rescuer were in wet cloths. "Oh how horrid of me, I forgot about your cloths." She apologized to the two young men. "No, it's alright, don't worry about it." The moon eyed man reassured. "No, it is not alright. You two could catch a cold in those wet cloths." Stella shot back sternly. The moon eyed man didn't have anything to say to that, but Ace did.

"She's right ya know. Not to mention, wet cloths feel uncomfortable."Ace relied lazily. "Well thank you, at least one of you know what I'm talking about." Stella said in triumph. The moon eyed man felt sheepish and little bit embarrassed at her words...which made Stella feel a bit guilty. "Now don't give me that look, I was just joking." She tried to reassure. "Oh I knew ma'am. I'm sorry if I mad you fell uncomfortable." The moon eyed man said abashed. Stella just playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Oh stop it. You really are too polite you know, and I repeat, one day you'll make some girl very lucky." She teased him. The moon eyed man just blushed while Ace snickered at him.

"Now, before I get you two some dry cloths. What are your names?" She asked playfully. "Well, the name's Ace." The dark haired teen introduced. "My name is Lon, it's a pleasure to meet you." The moon eyed man introduced politely. So the moon eyed man's name was Lon. What an interesting name.

"Well, you two already know I'm Stella, and this man is my husband, his name is Robert." Stella replied, pointed at the doctor when she introduced him. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's get you two some dry cloths." She said happily she went over and grabbed their wrists. She dragged them off, and they let her do so.

Stella didn't drag them around for long. A moment later they stopped in front of door.

"This used to my son's room. He lives on own now. He's a doctor, just like his dad, and he's engaged to a lovely young lady. She's a really nice girl." She explained as she opened the door. She sounded really proud of her son.

"Are you sure that's okay for us to be in here, I mean you did say this was your son's room."  
>Lon questioned tentatively. "Oh stop worrying. I said that this <strong>used<strong> to be my son's room. He owns his own house now, so now we use his old room as a guest-room." Stella dismissed with a wave of her hand. "And some of old cloths are in here too." She added.

That little bit of information was weird.

"What do you mean his cloths are here? I thought that you said he moved out, so wouldn't he take his cloths with him?" Ace questioned a little confused. Stella gave him a bland look. "Well not his old cloths." She replied like it was most obvious thing ever. That answer just about left Ace, and Lon, a little speechless. Seriously, what do you say to that?

"But why do you still keep your son's old cloths, that is if you don't mind me asking."

Scratch that, it looked like Lon had something to say to that.

Stella took on a thinking pose before she answered. "Well, Ulaka is a pretty popular place, so you can find all kinds of people here. Some are those who don't have a place to stay, either there were no vacancies at a hotel or inn, they're homeless or runaways. You know, people with no place to stay, so my old son's cloths are here for those who might need them."

"That's very kind and generous of you." Lon complicated as he gave Stella a warm and friendly smile. The older woman slightly blushed at the praise. "Well what can I say, I'm saint." She said cockily as she flashed them a big bright smile. Ace snicker a bit at that. Stella wasn't half bad.

"Now, there's a bathroom in here, so you two can grab some towels and dry off before you put on some dry cloths." Stella instructed as she pointed to where the bathroom was.

"Thank you very much ma'am." Lon said politely, very grateful. "No problem, and just call me Stella." The older woman said cheerfully. "You got it Stella, and thanks." Ace chimed in. Stella giggled at him. "Like I said, it's no problem." She repeated. "Just make sure to hand me your wet clothes when you two are done." She added before she left them and just the door behind herself.

After she left Ace was the first to head to the bathroom. "Would you like for me to grab you a towel?" He asked Lon. "Yes, thank you very much." The older male replied with a smile.

Ace came back a few seconds later with two big white fluffy towels. "Here." Ace said as he held out one of the towels for Lon. "Thank you." The older male said as he took what was offered to him. He quickly dried his hair. When he was done he let his, now dry, bangs fall onto his face and cover his eyes.

Ace watched him intrigued by his actions. Why would Lon let his bangs just hang in his face? They were so long that they completely covered his eyes.

"Why did you do that?" Ace asked both curious and confused, but mostly confused. "Why did I do what?" Lon questioned back. He had stilled his actions, which here unbuttoning his white long sleeved shirt, at the teen's inquiry.

"Let your hair cover your eyes." Ace pressed. Lon hesitated for a moment before he answered. "Well...people tend to be 'put off' by my eyes, so it's just easier to cover them. Less people stare at me that way." He sounded a little uncomfortable, and dare he say it, the older male even sounded a little bit ashamed.

"Well that's stupid." Ace said in a huff. "Excuse me!" Lon sputtered, he sounded a tad offended. "I said that it's stupid." The teen shot back. The older male shot him a look, which was hard to tell what it is because of his hair being in the way, but if the frown was anything to by, then Ace was sue that he glaring at him.

"I mean it's a wast to cover up your eyes, they're really beautiful." The teen clarified. Lon blushed at his words. It wasn't often that someone would complement his eyes.

"Yes...well...unfortunately not many share your opinion." The moon eyed said with a sigh. "Yeah, well they should." Ace said stubbornly. Lon chuckled at that. "Thank you." The older male said with a small smile, grateful for hearing those words. "Then you're welcomed." Ace chirped as he flashed his own smile.

* * *

><p>You know...<br>I know people usually don't like CannonXOC pairings, but I'm doing this fanfic anyway.  
>That is all.<p>

P.S. The main pairing is gonna be SmokerXOMCXAce. Though it's gonna start out with AceXOMC then move to SmokerXOMC later on and then eventually be SmokerXOMCXAce.


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